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Monday, January 16, 2017

My 2017 House Goals

There is a laundry list of thing that this house needs - from major, to aesthetic. Thanks to having to put a new roof on in the first 6 months, some of the other major items will just have to wait. Hopefully they can wait... [fingers crossed, touch wood, voodoo prayer].

I do have a list of smaller, mostly aesthetic things that I'd like to get done this year that I'd like to share with you.

1. Paint the upstairs hallway.

As you can see, it's kind of weak-pee yellow. It's also peeling in some areas of the ceiling (which is the same color). I didn't think this was a priority, but it's moving up my list, because - frankly, it's weak-pee yellow. Problem is that painting that high wall over the stairs scares me. And we don't even own a ladder. I go back and forth between hire a professional and just buy a paint roller extension. Either way, it's gotta get done.

2. Blinds

This house is full of blinds. I hate blinds. They are dusty, and annoying and look crappy. I'm planning on replacing the 13 sets of blinds in the house with curtains and shades.

3. The laundry sink

Think about Pinterest. Think about those lovely laundry rooms, so organized and so white. Now, brace yourselves:

This is my laundry sink. Are you scared? It's in our unfinished basement. Take a closer look.

Are you freaking out yet? The sink, despite its ghastly appearance, is mostly functional. Well, half functional.

Yep, it's a twin concrete sink with a big honkin' crack on one side. So, it's half functional. It needs to go.

4. The garden

This is my backyard. I realize it's kind of unfair of me to show pics obviously snapped in the dead of winter, when everything is dead. But there it is. Last summer, I spent many hours, and earned a million mosquito bites pulling weeds out of here, and un-planting the plants in plastic pots that the previous owners planted. Is that normal? Planting something but keeping it in the plastic pot? Maybe the realtor told them to do it. It was annoying, and I pulled them out.

I've done a bit of work already, I planted peonies, lilacs and lavender in the fall before the frost. In the coming weeks I'm going to start some herbs indoors, and this right here is to become my herb garden.

I'd like to configure some kind of patio area back there too. We don't have a patio, so I'll have to think creatively about how to accomplish that before summer.

When we first bought the house, I was also wary of how little privacy that chain link fence has, and thought hard about how to add some without building a new fence, but as time has gone by, we've gotten to know our neighbors a bit over the fence and it doesn't seem like a priority - though I am still thinking about what kind of beautiful floral bushes I might plant to make it look a little bit less like a prison yard.

5. The kitchen cabinets

This is a biggie.

I need to do something about these fug things. I admit, I've gotten kind of used to them. I have cabinet Stockholm Syndrome. We don't have the budget to renovate the kitchen right now, or even professionally re-face these cabinets, so it's likely going to be a mix of painting and replacing all the hardware. Those hinges! Yuck. The thought of this one does overwhelm me. That's a lot of hinges, and lot of handles.

Also up for immediate consideration: the pink paint and beadboard, though I'm a little bit scared of what's underneath... That part is a maybe!

So, that's my list! Do-able, right? I think? I mean, there are people out there building their own houses, so I should be able to paint my cabinets right?